


Significance Of It, The

by orphan_account



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s03e08 The Women of Qumar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-12-09
Updated: 2001-12-09
Packaged: 2019-05-15 19:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14796173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: What did the gesture Toby made in the Press Room mean?





	Significance Of It, The

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

The Significance Of It

By ChelleC

Disclaimers: The West Wing and it's characters are the  
property of Aaron Sorkin, Warner Brothers and NBC. No  
copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being  
made from this.

Rating: PG

Spoilers: The Women of Qumar

Summary: What did the gesture Toby made in the Press  
Room mean?

He was gone when she looked up from her briefing  
notes. It didn't surprise her very much. She was  
feeling just a little more in control of her emotions,  
so CJ finished the briefing and went back to her  
office.

She closed the door and sat down at her desk. It was  
times like this that she questioned what she was  
doing. She wondered how many more times she was going  
to be asked to betray everything she believed in. She  
sat at the desk, rubbing her temples. Her perpetual  
headache had returned, and it seemed worse than usual.

Toby cautiously opened her door. He peered inside and  
saw her sitting there. She hadn't moved at all, so he  
was certain she had no idea he was there. He wondered  
what she was thinking, as he stood there watching her  
rub her temples. If she was thinking of the message he  
had sent her in the pressroom, and if she remembered  
what that sign had signified in the past.

She looked up and saw him standing there. "You've  
been standing there for awhile?"

"Yeah."

"Someday I'm going to learn how you do it?"

"What?"

"How you sneak into my office."

He laughed. "I doubt that."

"We'll see."

After a moment, she walked around the desk towards  
him. "I'm wondering how many more times I'm going to  
have to betray what I believe in."

"CJ..."

"You know this pisses me off." It wasn't really a  
question.

"Yes."

She nodded. "They beat women and we're supporting  
them. Hell, they're our allies." She almost spit the  
last word.

"Claudia..."

"You know I should just go home."

"Yeah..."

"Take a long bath, eat some ice cream. Of course I'll  
have to stop and get the ice cream."

"Okay."

"Something else I couldn't do if I were a Qumari  
woman. I couldn't go to the store by myself. A man  
would have to be with me." She gathered her things to  
put them in her briefcase. "If I were Qumari, it's  
highly possible I wouldn't be able to read."

Toby just stood there and watched her, rocking on his  
heels a little bit.

"I wouldn't be able to drive either. Oh, and if I  
were raped, my father and brothers would kill me  
because I had soiled the family honor."

She turned, picking up her coat. "I know I'm lucky. I  
know I'm fortunate to be an American woman, but is it  
too much to ask for women in other parts of the world  
to have the same rights?"

"In a perfect world, no."

"Yeah, it's not a perfect world."

"No, it's not."

"You know those guns will probably just be turned on  
us."

"It's a remnant of the Cold War. We supported  
nationalist dictators and monarchies because at least  
they weren't Communist."

"Yeah."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"What happens when enemy number one is defeated?" It  
was really a rhetorical question.

"It'll be better tomorrow."

"No, somewhere over there, a woman will be killed  
tomorrow." She said from the doorway.

"CJ."

She turned around to look at him and he gave her the  
sign he had given her in the Press Room. She smiled  
ruefully and turned to go. It was then that she  
remembered what that sign had meant to them all those  
years ago. She turned around. "Toby..."

"Go home and get some rest."

"Yeah." She was left wondering what the sign meant  
now, or if still had the same significance it carried  
a decade ago.

The End.


End file.
